Fireball having blast only makes sense.
Couple of interesting points.
âTo balance this [+1 to hit when not moving], Sh values on units have been adjusted accordingly.â
Wonder how theyâve handled units that had Steady Aim?
Basic elves (amongst others, but funnier!) potentially hitting on 6+!
âAn example of a Magical Missile is Fireball. This is now Blast (D3) to better distinguish it from Lightning Bolt. Fireballâs n values have been halved but it now has Shattering, giving it a distinct role on the battlefield.â
Efreet down to FB 7/8 - but blast d3 means some hot dice can definitely hurt.
No Swarms or Titans??
Swarms obviously exist in some in some form (hence orclings) - treated as âsmallâ Large Infantry for unit sizes etc.
Monsters/titans rolled into one for rules/unit selection but different base sizes?
1. Are Titans now all Monsters?
2. All Monsters are Height 5 now or are there exceptions for the âTitansâ?
3. Since shooting units are usually standing still, it seems like adding the +1 for Standing Still instead of the -1 for Moving would lead to modifiers more often than not?
The shooting you see most of are the units with steady aim - most static, non-elite units already sucked!
It seems like we still need the rest of the rules to understand how the changes on moving/not moving will compare to how âsteady aimâ works now. So, another case of the teaser being⌠Well⌠Just a teaser (which is fine..).
I presume they will have to find a way so that the effectiveness of shooting units that had âsteady aimâ is relatively unchanged (bearing in mind theyâve been slightly nerfed already with the inability to rout unless the target is devastated).
I noted this ,regarding spells:-
âAs new expansion books are released, armies will also gain access to faction-specific spells, adding flavour and tactical variety without overwhelming the core system..â
Well, I know this will really annoy some, but I love the idea of faction-specific flavour like this. I bet there will be more of this in other areas⌠And they mention not âoverwhelming the core systemâ.
Definitely rolled back some bloat.
Swarms as height 1 LI works with fewer rules.
I assume monsters and titans get rolled together and no heavy infantry. Which either means base size exceptions or rebasing.
Chariots are disappointing though.
They should be closer to cavalry than large cavalry.
Talking at a recent tournament and the general feeling was that they should, once again, probably get rid of heavy infantry as a thing, but wouldnât because rebasing. Seeing the up-basing of heroes (which is obviously a lot easier than down-basing heavy infantry of any size!), Iâm wondering if they will finally pull that trigger. Alessio seems to be acting from a far enough distance (from WHFB) that he might well for the health of the rules set!
For a long time I assumed all chariots were H4, because the ones I saw on the table most often (and the best in the game IMO) were Ogre chariots 
From Kyle on FB
âThey all still exist. They are simply denoted as a base size change and not a rules change. So all rules that apply to Infantry also apply to Heavy Infantry, for example.â
âIf a Titan (or any unit) has a different Height, it will be listed in the unit profile. If it does not have a different Height listed in the profile, it uses the default Monster height of 5. So unless specified otherwise, everything that affects Monsters, also affects Titans. Same for the other unit types.â
Seems ok. My biggest concern is the faction spesific spells that will come with army update books. Hopefully everyone will get this at once.
Interesting to hear the concerns of some about the factions that get their books first having an advantage (because, if nothing else, they might have âmore toolsâ, as one person said on FB). I struggle to get overly worried about it, especially since I just donât anticipate GW levels of power creep.
For years Iâve played slightly unbalanced games or brought fluffy armies up against really cutthroat lists. Still had a great time.
People point to the Abyssal berserker as being an OP unit ⌠And yet, the Trident Realms were refreshed and didnât end up with any notably OP units. Power creep is not a given with Mantic, its more like a fluke, and nerfs are always possible via the app / errata anyway.
Although balance is a strength of the system in general terms, am I crazy to suggest that its possible to overdo the emphasis on it by some of the community? If its a barrier, in some peopleâs minds, to the release of expansion packs that drive the narrative of Pannithor on, then a good thing has kind of been made into a straightjacket. Someone else is concerned about having to potentially buy two books a year. Tricky customer base to manage⌠LOL
The concern comes not from that the new things might be unbalanced. It stems from the psychology of âsomeone got something cool, I did notâ. I get that it will have to be so for completely new units etc, but I hope they limit this where possible.
Well, some are definitely concerned about balance between factions, if we take them at their word.
Your analysis of what is really going on might be correct, hard to say though.
I assume some are tournament players to whom the issue of fairness in lists is pretty important. Maybe theyâre just not happy to play games on the terms I am, as a casual player.
I read an old Jervis Johnson article recently where he was against the rise of Warhammer tournament play. He saw play as more of a narrative cooperative experience⌠Winning and balanced competition was not the point. This does explain why early GW editions ⌠like 2nd edition40k were unbalanced and yet wildly fun. They were never tested through a competitive lens. Thats not a justification for what contemporary GW rule sets have become though.
It will ofcourse be impossible to please everyone. I really like the idea of the narrative driving the game forward. For KoW I think the balanced rule set is what drew a lot of players, so that will also be the expectation going forward.
Undead player here, be assured itâs possible to play and love KoW even if you havenât had any significant updates or new toys to play with!
Mantic has the companion as living rulebook and if the printed Clash of Kings update is gone, which I assume to be the case with 2 Expansion book per year, they can make changes more often and faster if needed.
I expect the balance to be better and not worse simply because they donât need to wait for a printed book per year to make changes but can do it twice a year if need along the expansion books
I expect here that the unit types arenât directly linked to bases any more and/or the missing units being covered with the different base sizes
like heavy infantry isnât their own unit type but a different base size for infantry same for Titans and Monsters
Totally, I played Bretonnians in WFB, so I know it is possible to enjoy the game without getting anything. But we are all different, and maybe not everyone sees it that way, which is fine and understandable.
This does appear to be a thing in the KoW community.
There always seems to be some complaint or disappointment with how much some people perceive their army âgetsâ in Clash of Kings books.
Which is a rather childish way to miss the point IMO.